Doctor Domestic

Why didn’t I just start simply the first time?  I don’t know.  That’s just how I am.  Why go simple when you can make something ridiculously complicated?  Well, we’re going back to basics here.  And to aid me in my pursuits, I was given the most wonderful gifts from my husband.  The magical dough whisks from King Arthur. Don’t ask my how or why they work, just know that they do.  They work very well indeed.

Funky Whisks

I’m a lucky girl, I was given the mama and the baby:

Whisks

My second attempt at sourdough bread is the simplest of breads: French Sourdough.  It has 4 ingredients.  4.  Four.  Just one more than 3:  Flour, Water, Salt and Sourdough starter.  How do 4 simple ingredients come together to produce something so very wonderful? Its a culinary miracle.

It starts as all sourdoughs do, with the culture refresh.  Since my attempt at cinnamon-nut bread, I have learned some things…namely that I did the refresh exactly WRONG the last time.  After an informative chat with mom and dad, I now know how to do it right:

Sourdough Refresh:

1. Transfer culture from the storage container to a large mixing bowl.
2.  Add 1 1/4 cups water to the culture, and just enough flour to bring it to a thick pancake-batter consistency.  Air on the light side with the flour first, then add flour as needed while whisking.
3.  When it is thoroughly mixed, let it sit for 1 hour on the counter.
4.  After the hour, remove the amount of culture needed for the recipe  (2 cups here).  Put the rest back in the washed and dried storage container.

Sourdough Refresh

Before the first 12 hour proof, 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of water are added and mixed in.

Then after the 12 hour proof, and before the 8 hour proof add 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of water.  That’s fairly easy to remember.

First and Second Proofs

After the 2nd proofing step, a lot of bubbles have been introduced by our friendly microbes.  Now its time to add the rest of the ingredients and mix/knead it all together.  At this point, another addition of flour, plus the rest of the water and salt (which is dissolved in the water) are added to the dough in your mixer.  Once again I’ll remind you, HOLD ON TO YOUR MIXER.  Unless you have one of those mixers that sits on the floor and that you can make enough cookies for 400 teenagers in, your mixer will lurch along the counter as it mixes the dough.

Mix in about 1 1/2 cups of flour and the remaining 3/4 cup of water with 1 1/2 tsp of salt dissolved into it.  Mix on low for 2.5 minutes to incorporate the new ingredients.  At this stage, if the dough is to wet and gummy, add more flour.  If you don’t add enough flour, it’ll come out of your mixer looking like paste and will stick to your hands in a way you can’t even imagine.

The CLAW

And by the way, I’m just slightly OCD about having my hands clean so this was more than a little bit torturous!  Needless to say, I did not add enough flour in the mixer.  A problem to be fixed next time!  After another 8 minutes mixing on high in your mixer, transfer to a floured work surface.  At this stage, knead in enough additional flour (likely more than another cup) so the dough is smooth, firm and not sticky.  Using a bench scraper is the key here.  When it starts to stick, just work the scraper under it, then reflour the surface.

Kneading the Dough

The recipe makes enough for 2 loaves, so split it in half and weigh each half on a kitchen scale to ensure an even split.  Once you have 2 even halves, roll around to make a couple of nice loaves.  Put them into lightly oiled bread loaf pans and to ensure even rising and a good shape, push the dough into all the corners of the pan with your knuckes.  Set a kitchen towel over them and let them rise for 2-4 hours, or until they’re 1-2 inches above the top of the pan.

And before you bake them, brush the tops with a little oil to promote nice browning and give them a good slash across the tops.  One good slash right down the middle.

Cook at 375F for 20 minutes, then put foil over the top to prevent the top from getting to dark.  At this time, insert a probe thermometer so you can take them out RIGHT WHEN THEY HIT 203F.  I have been told this temperature many times.  Apparently my bread will explode if the temperature is off either way.

4 simple ingredients - 1 amazing result

But with results like these, who’s to question it?

Yummy

Tags: Baking, Bread, Sourdough